Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop presented his transportation policy for the state, the first of several briefings on major issues in his campaign to become New Jersey’s next governor. “At the end of the day, it all comes back to mobility and transportation and how do we move people around a congested state,” said Fulop, who said he wants to fix New Jersey Transit, tax major corporations to pay for it, and hit New Yorkers with congestion pricing fees for driving over the Hudson River to New Jersey.
The first Democrat to declare he’s running to become New Jersey’s next governor unveiled his transportation plan Monday.
“From my standpoint I think we’ve put together a plan here that will change the focus more towards mass transit and have an impact on every single resident in New Jersey, moving people around,” he said. Fulop’s transportation policy paper lists some long-sought goals, like a dedicated funding source for NJ Transit, which was an early campaign promise of Gov. Phil Murphy.
In a reversal of Murphy policy, Fulop said to help fill the agency’s looming billion-dollar deficit, he would reinstate the 2.5% surcharge on the state corporate business tax due to sunset this year. “It only impacts the larger corporations, so there was no reason to have that sunset,” Fulop said.
Fulop’s transportation policy promotes mass transit over highway driving. Fulop also wants to reform the state Motor Vehicle Commission. And he would prioritize PATH train service, which he says the Port Authority often ignores. Fulop said he would pay for PATH expansion and upgrades by imposing a congestion pricing fee on New York drivers who take tunnels and bridges into New Jersey.
